Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?

So I thought I would pick up some Ubiquiti gear this weekend since Micro Center stocks it all. Is it such that you buy your USG, switch and AP's and then buy a Unifi key and plug it in to the switch or USG? I never really understand what the key was all about.

I have seen where guys install Unifi in the cloud on a Vultr server. Thought I would give it all a try firsthand and see how well it works. Dont want to waste time with the key if it can be setup to contact a central server.

Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.

Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.

Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.

Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.

Who told you the cloud key solves this?

Is it that the key runs the controller? So lost...

The "key" is just a tiny Raspberry Pi like SMC with the same software installed on it that you normally run in a VM. It's nothing special or good.

@JaredBusch Agreed, In 4 years deploying Unifi APs and having my main controller for multiple APs customers and DVRs in AWS I have not had this issue. Usually the issue I have is more on the space due to keeping data settings.

@bigbear The Cloud Key is like a small $2.50 or $5.00 VM from Vultr and can have an added SD media card that essentially runs the Unifi Controller you get for free. It connects to the Unifi Could (Which since version 4.7 or so you have access as well with the controller). They also have cloud controllers that they sell as well that you can customize for hotspots too.https://account.ubnt.com/login

Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.

The only issue I had was with this last kernel update that came out Monday, but if you looked at the forums they had a workaround same day, and a fix published Wednesday.